In a nation where public institutions often falter, the Liberia Agricultural and Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA) is experiencing a renaissance under Acting Director General Dan T. Saryee’s leadership.
Saryee’s innovative approach and tireless dedication have transformed LACRA from a state of dormancy to a driving force in Liberia’s agricultural sector. During a recent visit to LACRA’s Freeport office, sociopolitical commentator Zayzay Mohammed Kpadeh witnessed firsthand the institution’s remarkable turnaround.
Kpadeh’s observations highlight Saryee’s impactful leadership, which has introduced reforms, enhanced stakeholder engagement, and boosted transparency and efficiency. Published on page 9 of The Oracle Newspaper September 29, 2025 print and online edition.
3-Hr Visit at LACRA Freeport Office
By Zayzay Mohammed Kpadeh, Sociopolitical Commentator
As someone from the food-producing and commercial-minded belt of Liberia, I am an avid follower of the Liberia Agricultural and Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA). I closely followed its legal metamorphosis and operational system for quite a while.
If what I saw during my hour of visit and interaction with staff can be sustained and supported, that long-defunct state institution is well on its way to becoming President Joseph Boakai and his Unity Party’s legacy institution. Dan T. Saryee, the acting Director General, has literally grabbed LACRA firmly with both hands, with unbridled passion, as one would hold a personal project. 
Now, let me quickly say this: I am not a fan of Joseph Boakai and the Unity Party. Far from them. I am their devout critic. But there is a certain intoxication of politics to which I am naturally immune hating the political leader of a reigning political system until you hate, to vomiting proportion, even their apologists and lieutenants’ outputs if they are impressive.
And this immunity of mine came alive when I walked into the Freeport premises of LACRA and saw and heard a quiet revolution, a groundswell of radical transformation, of a public institution best known as a diamond buried in the mud.
Clearly, Dan Torkarmnwon Saryee is removing the thick mud around ‘diamond LACRA’ as I will describe it with utter common sense and force and is gingerly pulling it out of years of neglect and abandonment.
I know this for sure because I am a product of LACRA’s progenitor, the Liberian Produce Marketing Corporation (LPMC)—that gem of a public institution that turned my father and his peers into noted entrepreneurs in their own right, catapulting those villagers from their state of hopeless squalor to noble men of village standards in the mid-1970s to the 1980s.
And that made my late father, Zayzay Mohammed Kpadeh, Sr., send my two brothers and three sisters to better schools in Monrovia and Gbarnga.
As LPMC’s successor, even despite the civil war disruptions, LACRA should have by this time—decades running—made several village ‘big boys’ and ‘big girls’, using agricultural production, principally the planting and sale of cocoa, coffee, palms, and other produce.
LPMC made several ‘big guys’ all through the country in those days. Unfortunately, today, the enterprise that is naturally a wealth-creating entity has become, and is merely treated as, an appendix of the public sector only meant to create political jobs.
It had been treated and handled like all other normal Liberian government official things where officials sit idly, collect salaries, bootlick, and wait until they are replaced with other lazy bureaucrats.
The good news I noticed and felt during my one-hour visit to LACRA is that its moribund story is steadily, visibly changing for the better under the stewardship of its acting director general. 
Anyone doubting me needs to pay a visit and see and hear for themselves. Dan Saryee is cutting corners—stunningly in a few weeks.
And he is doing so with utmost passion and exuberance. Boakai must be blessed to have made such a pick in a political system replete with public servants who consider public service not only the quickest path to instant luxury but also to save energy with reckless abandon.
“I came here, though in an acting capacity, and so far, barely four weeks, enforced by two factors—first that this appointment invokes nostalgia of my youthful days, being a son of Joseph Saryee, founder of the Tarjuowon Agriculture Cooperative or simply ‘Corp’ as we simply used to call it,” Dan reflected on the secret of his strength.
“My father was one of the biggest farmers in the cocoa and coffee sector in those days. And as I sit here, I do so not only have reminiscence of my parents as a child but also appreciating this institution, which was then known as LPMC, conveyor belt to success—cocoa and coffee farming, without which I probably would still have been up there in Kulu, Tarjuowon District, Sinoe County cutting palm nuts to survive.”
Still glued to his laptop on the wide brown desk, the new LACRA boss continued: “Secondly, and as a result of the first reason, when I was approached by His Excellency Joseph Boakai if I could serve in this capacity, I saw on his face an extremely grim determination and a deep crave to make this institution a mainstay of his ARREST Agenda, to revolutionize agricultural production—cocoa and coffee in the center of it all. 
And don’t forget, the president is a pioneer and architect of LPMC, LACRA’s forebear; and like me perhaps as a beneficiary of cocoa and coffee programs in this country.”
Mr. Saryee further recalled: “As we talked that day, I was having an imagery of my late father radiating on the president’s face; it’s like I was having old man Joseph Saryee telling me, ‘Son, wake up and take your brothers on the farm to tend the cocoa; schools are opening soon, and it is by this you will return to Greenville, and after that to go to Monrovia when you graduate.’
So, I saw my appointment by President Boakai as a mandate of a father hopeful of me and interested in me to help him change lives of a struggling people, using cocoa, coffee, and palm as the catalyst.”
Dan’s story with cocoa and coffee resonates with me also as a son of a cocoa farmer, and I believe it certainly also is for several others of our generation who saw LPMC and/or LCCC (Liberia Cocoa and Coffee Corporation) in the 1970s and 80s, as that active and progressive state-owned enterprise with which we owe our social and economic survival. And I believe its successor, LACRA, can do the same, and signs are copiously clear that a radical departure and trajectory have begun in real-time.
Dan T. Saryee has definably picked up the torch, no doubt. Inside LACRA, the testimonies are unanimous and overwhelming amongst staff and employees I spoke to in my one-hour visit.
They were all unanimous in the view that Mr. Saryee is the game-changer; that he’s changing everything for the better—from digitizing or modernizing every aspect of the institution, be it internet connectivity, be it digitizing their payroll system, be it activating and reclaiming our abandoned rural offices, be it connecting LACRA not only to ordinary farmers but also international stakeholders and partners, including the European Union market.
“To be frank, I have been here at LACRA for a good while now, and served a number of bosses,” said a staff member who does not want to be named for fear of losing contact with former senior staff still around. “But I can say this for a fact: our financial system, our operational system, are getting fresh beams of light and orderliness, and all of us, including ordinary employees, are feeling a sense of belonging to LACRA. This new boss is open, and down-to-earth, progressive, anxious to see results, and we all are happy!”
A female employee who also asked not to be named in print added: “This other boss man likes much working business. Except he has evening meetings outside the building, Mr. Saryee would still be in office up to 7:30 pm at times beyond that time. It looks like he has brought his NGO work habit here and he is stretching most of us who before used to go home soon.”
Another senior-level staff member I spoke to during my one-hour visit told me the challenges that Saryee has inherited are enormous and stark.
“Top amongst the challenges,” he said, “I think, is the warning that Liberian farmers face from the EU; we call it EUDR—that is products from Liberia won’t be allowed on the European market by December. What makes it a top challenge is that the new boss’ predecessors downplayed this serious threat for too long, and it’s catching up with us at the time he’s taking office.
“But what I see is an intentional, deliberate speed on the part of Mr. Saryee to resolve it, for which I see him doing everything, including nearly daily engagement with EU Liberia office, and having experts on the field doing the needful, including installing machinery and gadgets gathering data and profiles on farmers and their farms so as to improve traceability of Liberia’s value products—something that is a part of the EUDR benchmarks.”
Many other staff members have testified to their new boss’ passion for leaving the comfort of the desk in Monrovia, spending days in the field, by which he is able in a short time of occupancy to begin proper organization of farmers, giving them encouragement, reclaiming assets long abandoned in the countryside, such as the one in Gbarnga, Bong County, and also in Nimba and Lofa.
“And what I also notice about the new DG is that he is not leaving any stakeholder on the sideline,” said an assistant of his. “I see him touching bases with border points harnessing relationship with cocoa and coffee exporters, local buyers, border security, tax officers, and cooperatives, all intended to improve fair deals and ward off smuggling amongst other things.”
He has also written to the Inspector General of the Liberia National Police, the Director General of the Liberia Revenue Authority, and the Commissioner General of the Liberia Immigration Service to discuss solutions to be reported smuggling at border points and has been meeting with authorities from the Ghana Maritime Transport Services (GMTS) and APM Terminals on the same matter—smuggling.
As I concluded my one-hour visit to LACRA, images of the changes taking place filled my mind. I witnessed rapid transformation in a short time, reminiscent of my visits as a farmer’s son. This experience made me reflect on the state of government institutions in Liberia.
Often, institutions remain stagnant despite changes in administration, with many individuals viewing government jobs as a means to personal gain rather than a way to drive progress. 
However, the new LACRA picture presents a different narrative. It showcases individuals like Dan T. Saryee, who prioritize institutional growth over personal interests. There are indeed “Beautiful Ones” amongst us, and Saryee is one of them. I salute him for his dedication and commitment to transforming LACRA.
